


Gwen Can Handle It

by ScarletHottie



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Secret Identity, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 06:02:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20943509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletHottie/pseuds/ScarletHottie
Summary: Spider-Man creates problems for Peter and Gwen's relationship.





	Gwen Can Handle It

Gunshots rang in George Stacy's ears. Here he was, the Captain of the NYPD, reduced to a hostage in a chair. Ridiculous, he thought.

A redhead man in a pinstripe suit stepped toward George, trailing through the shadows of the dark office. 

"You're awful quiet." The redhead said. 

"Panic does that." George said through gritted teeth.   
  
He glanced through the window and saw his officers paralyzed with fear at their desks.   
  
Bombs lined almost every inch of the front wall, a henchman pointed his gun at a bomb, almost poking it and laughing at the whimpers of the officers.

"Whatchu scared for?" Redhead asked. "It's like Fisk said. You trespass us, we trespass you."

George held back his half-courageous chuckle. 

"Except it wasn't us that flooded the streets with crack and guns." He began. "Call us corrupt, call us racist...fine. That's in the past, we expunged the department of bigots like that. The nightly stabbings and daily overdoses? That's on **you**."

Every word was venom to the redhead's bloodstream. He had been conflicted on the morality of working for the Kingpin, and he knew his money was dirty. His confusion and rage took its physical form with a-

_Click._

Redhead put the barrel of his gun to George's cheek. The police captain gulped. 

"I could blow these teeth out and this whole building to pieces."

George Stacy's heart sunk. His face was going to be blown off in his own office, and all his officers, of the department he worked so hard to expunge racism and corruption from, were going to die in a blaze. 

Then, he saw something in the window. A faint shadow, but it was enough to jump-start his heart again. He looked the henchman in the eyes. All his courage, all his morality came out in just two words.

"Do it."

The redhead was shocked. "I-"

"Do. It." George reiterated. 

Before the Redhead could open his mouth, Spider-Man crashed through the window. The henchman was hit by flying glass, and lost his balance when his gun was webbed out of his hand. 

In the same motion, Spider-Man pistol whipped the man, knocking him to the floor. 

"In case it wasn't clear, he was stalling." Spidey said. 

The Redhead pulled a knife, Spidey kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious. 

George grunted as the ropes were ripped off him, standing back up with a hand from Peter. 

"Thanks, Par-SPIDER-MAN. Thanks."

Under his mask, Peter rolled his eyes. "You're welcome. I left Gwen at the cafe for this." 

On top of the mini panic attack Peter had at the thought of the NYPD being massacred, his date had been cut short. Annoyed was an understatement. 

"I'm sure she's used to it." George quipped. "Gwen can handle it, she is my daughter after all."

"Gag." Peter replied, with an actual gag to go with it.

They chuckled, their mutual respect radiating. When it came to improving the city, they (along with Luke Cage and Daredevil) were a dynamic duo.

"Don't forget the bombs." George nodded his head toward the rest of the precinct.

Spidey's eyes widened. "You were serious?!"

The college student stared down the precinct, doing a mental count of officers and bombs, trying to figure out the best path to dodge the sensors and get everyone out unharmed. 

Not enough time. He had to go to the next best thing, and so he took a deep breath.

"Come on, Peter tingle."

He closed his eyes and let his spidey sense guide him through the building, dodging and diving around the bombs and scooping up officers, bringing them out to the street. 

Finally, all of them were safe. On his way out, Peter forgot he had his eyes closed and bumped into a bomb squad officer. 

The officer looked at the wall o' bombs and rolled his eyes. "I can't decide whether you or Fisk are the worst thing to happen to this city." 

That hit Peter in his heart, but he brushed it off. "My bad. Want a selfie?"  
  
  
  


* * *

"Every day, Peter, every time!" Gwen shouted on the phone.

Peter walked the halls of his apartment building, biting back frustrated growls. "Gwen, I'm sorry, I-"

"Save it. You are **such **a flake."

Peter looked down at the red glove falling out of his bag. Maybe Spider-Man was more trouble than it's worth. Almost immediately, he disposed of that thought, but couldn't find the words to say to Gwen. He wanted to apologize in person, to get a kiss from her and go see a movie. He wanted this argument to be over, but it had been going on for years. He was lucky, he thought, to even have her as a friend anymore, let alone a girlfriend. 

"No, look, I don't mean to be, I uh, I-"

"Bye." Gwen hung up.

Peter sighed and ran a hand down his face and let out a deep sigh, pushing the apartment door open.

Inside, Harry Osborn was on the couch playing a racing game, moving in time with the cars as if it'd help him play better. 

"Hey hey," Harry almost cut himself off. Peter was moping again, and he wanted to help, more importantly he wanted a Player 2 for the game. 

"You good, Pete?" He asked. 

"Guess who's mad at me." Peter stepped to the kitchen and tossed Harry a soda, opening one for himself. 

Harry caught the bottle and popped it open, raising his eyebrows. "Ohhhh no." He took a sip. "You might wanna just tell her, dude."

Peter pulled back, making a nervous hiss noise. 

"Can't." He squeaked out. 

"Do it."

After letting the thought sit for a few seconds, Peter cracked a smile. 

"You think she'll tell anyone?"

"You're stupider than you look if you really just asked that."

They both laughed, and Peter threw a banana at Harry's head.

"OW!" Harry winced, tossing it back.

Peter dodged it. "So, how should I do it? Serenade?"

"No way. You wanted a wedding with her, not a funeral." Harry couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Peter singing.

"Shut up, man." Peter chuckled. Truth be told, he couldn't sing. He liked to, but you wouldn't catch him dead singing in front of anyone except Mary Jane. 

Then, Peter had an idea. "I'll get her some flowers."

"Very original." Harry quipped. "Good stuff, lemme know how it goes."

"You'll be the first." 

* * *

The next morning, Gwen was mentally drained. 

Now that the weekend was over, she tried to focus on all the homework she didn't do. At sunrise, she strolled through ESU's campus, settling into her weekly routine. 

Armed with her workbook and coffee, she sat on her favorite bench overlooking the Hudson River, and got to work. 

She solved equation after equation, the answers getting easier as she went. Eventually, she cracked open her notebook and began to write down her own theoretical equations.   
  
The line between recreation and academia was blurred when it came to topics she actually cared about, like chemistry, physics, and music. 

Halfway through an equation, she hit a roadblock. "Damn...that formula. Left, one, six, five..." She trailed off, trying to remember how she and Peter figured it out in class.

Thoughts of Peter flooded her mind. He seemed so nice and genuine, and she knew him. 

They had been friends since childhood, and after years of that, flirting, and going out, he still flaked every chance they got to spend time together. 

Things weren't adding up.

_Cheating?_ She thought. No, they weren't even exclusive. 

_Addiction?_ After all, they had helped Harry through a pill addiction. 

_Medical?_ That didn't seem right either, she knew he didn't have any medical conditions. 

She let her mind wander to the various possibilities, and was about to call Mary Jane to get together for a much needed hangout, when Peter came round the bend.

* * *

At this point, Gwen was scribbling in her notebook, doing her work on autopilot. 

"Wow, you're fast." Peter complimented. 

Gwen looked up at him, her blue eyes locking, almost cutting into his brown eyes. 

Sheepishly, Peter pulled a single flower from behind his back. "I tried to get the whole bouquet, but the guy was cranky." 

_Nah Pete, you just didn't have enough money._ They both thought. 

"Sorry about last night," Peter continued. "and Thursday night. And every date night."

Gwen twirled the flower in her fingers. Romantic cliche was something she hated, but if this is what a melting heart felt like, she didn't mind.   
  
She cracked a smile smelled the flower. "Except that one time."

Peter blinked in confusion. 

"...laser tag?" She asked, deadpan.

"OH! Where you beat me so hard they put up your picture?"

"Highest Score this decade. My claim to fame." Gwen confirmed. 

She stood up and offered her hand. Peter looked at it, then at her face, smiled, and felt like a band-aid was applied to his heart. 

* * *

After classes that day, the young couple enjoyed their alone time before Gwen's family got home, chilling on the Stacys' balcony. 

Peter leaned further against the railing, thinking about how sick it'd be to jump off this balcony and try to hit the rooftop below. Important stuff. 

"I gotta tell you this one thing." He said without thinking. 

"Go for it." Gwen said, sipping her lemonade. 

"It's uh, it's hard to say, imma just say it, uh-"

Gwen rolled her eyes. Not this again. She turned on her heel, half to tease him into spitting it out, half because she didn't wanna deal with this right now. 

"Tell me when you've found the words." She said, walking away. 

_Thwip._

A web hit Gwen's back. She was pulled back in a twirl and found herself face to face with Peter. 

"Oh." 

That was all she could say, but her thoughts were racing. It all clicked into place like concrete filling a pothole, the missing link, the reason for all this running off the past few years. 

Peter's heart was pounding in his chest. What if she wasn't cool with it? What if they broke up? 

"Yeah."

Was all he could say. 

"OH." Gwen said, starting to nod. 

"I thought it was obvious!" Peter said with a hint of laughter. 

"Peter..." Gwen shook her head and rolled her eyes. "you being a flake is infinitely more plausible than you being a superhero."

"That's harsh." 

"So is leaving me at cafes."

Peter was stumped, and made a 'you-got-me-there' face. 

Gwen threw her arms around him into a hug. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Peter hugged tighter. "...and I don't just leave you at cafes. Remember Coney Island?"

"And the park." Gwen added. 

They looked at each other, a silent acceptance and warmth washing over them. There was a lot to explain, but for now, nothing could ruin their evening. 

Their lips met, and Peter and Gwen kissed on the balcony, bathed in sunset. 


End file.
